In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Darlington like this:
Darlington.-- parl. and mun. bor., market town, par., and township, S. Durham, on river Skerne, 12 miles W. of Stockton-on-Tees, 36 S. of Newcastle, and 232 N. of London by rail -- par., 7811 ac., pop. 36,666; township, 3351 ac., pop. 33,428; parl. bor. and mun. bor., 3910 ac., pop. 35,104; 4 Banks, 4 newspapers. Market-days, Monday and Friday. Since the opening of the Stockton and D. Ry., D. has been the centre of the industrial dist. of S. Durham. It has large iron and steel works, extensive locomotive establishments, breweries, tanneries, and some wool mills. ...
St Cuthbert's Collegiate Church dates from the beginning of the 13th century. D. may be regarded as the birthplace of the modern railway. The Stockton and Darlington Ry. was the first line in the kingdom on which locomotive steam engines were used. It was projected in 1818, and opened in 1825. George Stephenson (1781-1848), inventor of the locomotive, was the engineer. His engine, "Locomotive No. 1, " stands on a stone pedestal at the North Road station. The bor. returns 1 member to Parliament.
Darlington through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Darlington has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of Darlington. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Darlington and units named after it.
Not where you were looking for? Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Darlington".